According to a news report published on 2nd January 2020 Qatar has imposed a blanket ban on cryptocurrency trading and any services that involve trading and transferring digital assets and using it as a payment mode.
While it is true that Bitcoin price has intrigued many and attracted investors from around the world in this next-generation investment option, with some countries even relying on it as a safe haven asset amid uncertain economic conditions, others have either yet to regulate it or, in some extreme cases, decided to restrict it completely.
Among the most notable is the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD) imposed by the European Union last month, necessitating all crypto-related companies to adhere to more stringent anti-money laundering and know-your-customer procedures and closely tracking all transactions. It was initiatives such as this that claimed many victims, along with a well-established cryptocurrency mining platform, Simplecoin, who called it quits by succumbing to new Eu directive.
Now, Qatar seems to be the latest addition to the long list of countries, which also include the likes of India and China, that prohibit dealing with cryptocurrencies entirely.
Qatar outlaws cryptocurrency trading
The QFC regulatory body has issued a statement that mentions that QFC will longer permit virtual asset services and that anything acting as a substitute to the region’s national currency, enabling transmission and trading of value digitally, will face a blanket ban henceforth.
This implies that buying and selling of cryptocurrencies using fiat money, trading them in different forms, owning and storing them and involving oneself in the sale or purchase of virtual currencies will be actionable by law.
Why has Qatar become anti-crypto?
Although there was no mention of why QFC decided to assume such excessively hostile stance over crypto, it is likely that the region, like most other countries that have banned crypto, feels threatened by the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies and regards it as a risk to national security and existing financial system.
Besides, the move doesn’t come as a surprise considering the fact that the middle eastern nation had already established a prohibition on Bitcoin trading in 2018 by labeling it as a highly volatile asset that is exceptionally prone to cyber-attacks and being used as a means to facilitate financial crimes.
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